Types of Wisdom Teeth Stitches

When you have dental surgery or tooth extraction, your oral surgeon will place stitches or suture. Usually, during the procedure of wisdom teeth extraction, a gum tissue flap is raised to ease the oral surgeon to remove the teeth. Stitches are needed to tack it back into place. There are two types of stitches dentists use depending on the material. The first type is dissolvable wisdom teeth stitches and the other type non-dissolvable stitches. What are the differences between the two? Let’s get to know further about these two kinds of stitches.

The Differences Between Dissolvable and Non-Dissolvable Stitches

Stitches that dissolve are called dissolvable or absorbable or gut stitches. As the stitches are absorbed by the body, they do not need removal in the future. They will be broken down by the body and disposed of. Once, they were made of sheep intestines. At these modern days, many kinds of synthetic materials are used to make gut sutures. People like these stitches because they do not need to go back to a dental office to remove the stitches. It generally takes one week to a couple of weeks for the stitches to dissolve depending on the material. In the contrary, non-dissolvable stitches cannot be degraded and disposed of by the body because they are made of nylon, silk, and polyester. Stitches made from these materials, therefore, need to be taken out. Dentists usually will arrange an appointment for stitches removal a week after the extraction.

If your dentist placed non-dissolvable stitches, you should not need to worry about getting them removed as it is a pain free process. Moreover, the process doesn’t take a long time and it’s easy. A pair of scissors is needed to remove the suture thread from the gum tissue. As it is not painful, anesthetically is not necessary. It does not mean that you won’t feel anything, you are likely to feel a firm tug on each stitch but it does not cause any pain.

In a few cases, the stitches can come out before they are scheduled to remove. If this happens, you should let your dentists know about it soon. So, what are the functions of stitches? First of all, of course, they aid wound healing. They stabilize the tissue flap, strengthen the wound, and bring together the cut edges of tissue so the distance between wound parts can be minimized. They also prevent bleeding of the wound.

In the case of wisdom teeth removal, placing stitches after the tooth is removed is necessary. It is because the surgery requires the creation of dental flap and this flap needs to be closed using stitches. The procedures of closing the flap require flushing the wound to remove any debris and smooth off uneven edges, positioning the flap back to its original position, and lastly placing the stitches. The numbers of stitches that are used vary depending on how large the flap is. After the stitches are placed, the extraction site is closed. It means the procedure is done. Some precautions might be given by your dentist to complete the healing process.